Means for retaining a wound cable on a drum in a taut position and to prevent crisscrossing of the cable winds

ABSTRACT

Means for use in connection with a drum, reel or spool on which a cable has been wound, such as a winch and the like, which serves to maintain the wound cable in a taut position on the drum or reel to prevent slackening of the cable and to maintain the successive cable turns in their relative positions to prevent crisscrossing of the cable turns. The said means includes a flexible and stretchable member which maintains a constant pressure or stress on the wound cable around the drum or reel.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Howard 11. Vermette 7 l43rd St.,Hammond, Lake County, Ind. 46320 [21] Appl. No. 843,415 [22] Filed July22, 1969 [45] Patented Oct. 19, 1971 [54] MEANS FOR RETAINING A WOUNDCABLE ON A DRUM IN A TAUT POSITION AND TO PREVENT CRISSCROSSING OF THECABLE WINDS 6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figs. [52] U.S. Cl 254/190, 242/ 1 56.1[51] Int. Cl B66d 1/36 [50] Field of Search 254/ 1 90,

DIG. 11; 242/156.1

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,566,334 9/1951 Jamrozy254/190 X 222,416 12/1879 McCormick 242/156.1

1,281,007 10/1918 Hooker 254/DIG. 11 3,150,861 9/1964 Ahlbim 254/190FOREIGN PATENTS 538,993 11/1931 Germany 242/1561 1,110,436 2/1956 France242/156.l

Primary Examiner-Harvey C. Hornsby Assistant Examiner-Merle F. MaffeiAtt0rneyMaX R. Kraus ABSTRACT: Means for use in connection with a drum,reel or spool on which a cable has been wound, such as a winch and thelike, which serves to maintain the wound cable in a taut position on thedrum or reel to prevent slackening of the cable and to maintain thesuccessive cable turns in their relative positions to preventcrisscrossing of the cable turns. The said means includes a flexible andstretchable member which maintains a constant pressure or stress on thewound cable around the drum or reel.

PATENTEDUCT 19 I97! FIG. 2

l FIG. 1

/Nvz=/vT02 Howard 11. Vmnelle MEANS FOR RETAINING A WOUND CABLE ON ADRUM IN A TAUT POSITION AND TO PREVENT CRISSCROSSING OF THE CABLE WINDSBRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In winches and the like which utilize acable wound around a drum, reel or spool, there is a tendency for thecable when it is slackened in its nonoperating condition to be looselywound on the drum or reel and have a certain free play or looseness.When this occurs the successive cable turns on the drum or reel do notlie side by side or contiguous to each other and when the slack is takenup during the operation of the cable the cable turns crisscross and thisis objectionable. The present invention eliminates this objectionablecharacteristic in that there is provided a retainer which fits around aportion of the drum or reel as well as the wound cable thereon whichcauses the cable at all times to tightly hug the drum and acts to crowdthe cable turns to fit side by side in either left to right or right toleft position as the cable is wound on the drum. Whenever the cable isslacked the retainer maintains a pressure on the wound cable andmaintains the successive turns in their relative positions to avoidcrisscrossing of the turns when the slack is taken up.

Other objects will become apparent as this description progresses.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS Thewinch generally indicated at is of standard conventional constructionand only that portion of the winch to which this invention is directlyapplicable will be described in detail.

The conventional winch has a housing 12 provided with a drum or reel 14which is rotatably supported in the housing on a shaft 16. The housinghas an enlarged opening 18 which is of generally rectangular shape andthrough which the cable 20 passes as it is wound and unwound on thedrum. The cable 20, as can best be seen in FIG. 4, is wound around thedrum or reel 14 with one end of the cable anchored to the drum and theopposite end of the cable passing outwardly through the opening 18 ofthe housing and suitably connected to a load in the proper manner as isconventional in connection with winches and the like.

The border edges of the housing adjacent the opening 18 are enlarged toform bosses 22. The drum or reel 14 has a continuous shallow groove 24in which the cable turns of the cable seat. The other parts of the winchwhich are illustrated will not be described since they form no part ofthe invention and are conventional.

A flexible and elastic retainer generally indicated by the numeral 26which may be a band of elastic resilient material such as rubber orplastic and which is stretchable and of a width substantially equal tothe drum, is positioned around the drum as well as the wound cable onsaid drum to hug a portion of the drum and the wound cable. The oppositeends of the band 26 have ends 28 which fit and wrap around the borderbosses 22 of the housing adjacent the opening 18. The opposite ends 28of the band 26 are retained in a secured manner to said housing by meansof snap-on spring clips 30, which is best shown in FIG. 3, whichoverlays the ends 28 of the band and secures them to the housing. Theflexible stretchable band when secured in position snugly encirclesapproximately of the drum and the wound cable, as shown in FIG. 3.

As the cable winds around the drum, the stretchable band or cableretainer 26 will hug the drum and the wound cable thereon and any looseplay of the slacked cable will be taken up, and the cable retainer 26will act to crowd the cable turns to fit side by side or contiguous toeach other in either left to right or right to left as successive layersof cable are wound on the drum. This will cause the wound cable to beproperly aligned and will prevent the crisscrossing of the windings.When the cable is unwound from the drum the unwinding takes place inproper sequence. During the unwinding of the cable from the drum theretainer band 26 will be in engagement with the drum.

While the drum is shown with a continuous shallow groove for guiding thecable as it is wound on the drum, the cable retainer will be equallyeffective to attain the objectives of this invention with an ungrooveddrum.

While the invention is described particularly in connection with awinch, it is not limited thereto as it has other uses, such as forexample, in a fishing reel, and with other devices employing a drum anda cable.

What is claimed is:

1. Means for use with a rotatable drum having a cable wound around saiddrum, a support member for said drum, said support member having anopening for passage of the cable from the drum, said drum supported on anonshiftable shaft and rotatably supported on said support member, saidmeans comprising a flexible and stretchable band extending around andenveloping approximately one-half of the circumference of the drum andthe circumference of the wound cable thereon to tightly engage and hugapproximately one-half of the circumferential portion of the outerlayers of said wound cable to take up the slack of the wound cable andmaintain a pressure on the wound cable, with the opposite ends of thestretchable band extending forwardly of the portion of the stretchableband which circumferentially envelopes said wound cable and rigidlyattached to the support member adjacent said opening, the flexiblity andstretchability of the band permitting the band to move toward and awayfrom the opening to apply said pressure on the wound cable.

2. A structure of the character set forth in claim I, in which thesupport member is a housing with the rotatable drum positioned withinsaid housing.

3. A structure of the character set forth in claim 2, in which theopposite ends of the stretchable band are attached to the housingadjacent the opening thereof.

4. A structure of the character set forth in claim 3, in which theopposite ends of the stretchable band are secured to the housing byclips.

5. A structure of the character set forth in claim 1, which serves toretain the cable in a substantially taut position and which serves tocrowd the cable turns to fit side-byside as successive layers of cableare wound on the drum.

6. A structure of the character set forth in claim I, in which the drumis part of a winch.

1. Means for use with a rotatable drum having a cable wound around saiddrum, a support member for said drum, said support member having anopening for passage of the cable from the drum, said drum supported on anonshiftable shaft and rotatably supported on said support member, saidmeans comprising a flexible and stretchable band extending around andenveloping approximately one-half of the circumference of the drum andthe circumference of the wound cable thereon to tightly engage and hugapproximately one-half of the circumferential portion of the outerlayers of said wound cable to take up the slack of the wound cable andmaintain a pressure on the wound cable, with the opposite ends of thestretchable band extending forwardly of the portion of the stretchableband which circumferentially envelopes said wound cable and rigidlyattached to the support member adjacent said opening, the flexiblity andstretchability of the band permitting the band to move toward and awayfrom the opening to apply said pressure on the wound cable.
 2. Astructure of the character set forth in claim 1, in which the supportmember is a housing with the rotatable drum positioned within saidhousing.
 3. A structure of the character set forth in claim 2, in whichthe opposite ends of the stretchable band are attached to the housingadjacent the opening thereof.
 4. A structure of the character set forthin claim 3, in which the opposite ends of the stretchable band aresecured to the housing by clips.
 5. A structure of the character setforth in claim 1, which serves to retain the cable in a substantiallytaut position and which serves to crowd the cable turns to fitside-by-side as successive layers of cable are wound on the drum.
 6. Astructure of the character set forth in claim 1, in which the drum ispart of a winch.